CLINICAL-EVALUATION OF BIOACTIVE GLASS IN THE TREATMENT OF PERIODONTAL OSSEOUS DEFECTS IN HUMANS

THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY was to compare the use: of bioactive I:lass to demineralized freeze-dried bone allograft (DFDBA) in the treatment of human periodontal osseous defects. Fifteen systemically healthy pat ients (6 males and 9 females, aged 30 to 63) with moderate to advanced adult periodontitis were selected for the study. All patients underwe nt initial therapy, which included scaling and root planing, oral hygi ene instruction, and an occlusal adjustment when indicated, followed b y re-evaluation 4 to 6 weeks later. Paired osseous defects in each sub ject were randomly selected to receive grafts of bioactive glass or DF DBA. Both soft and hard tissue measurements were taken the day of surg ery (baseline) and at the B-month re-entry surgery. The clinical exami ner was calibrated and blinded to the surgical procedures, while the s urgeon was masked to the clinical measurements. Statistical analysis w as performed by using the paired Student's t test. The results Indicat ed that probing depths were reduced by 3.07 +/- 0.80 mm with the bioac tive glass and 2.60 +/- 1.40 mm with DFDBA. Sites grafted with bioacti ve glass resulted in 2.27 +/- 0.88 mm attachment level gain, while sit es grafted with DFDBA had a 1.93 +/- 1.33 mm gain in attachment. Bioac tive glass sites displayed 0.53 +/- 0.64 nun of crestal resorption and 2.73 mm bone fill. DFDBA-grafted sites experienced 0.80 +/- 0.56 mm o f crestal resorption and 2.80 mm defect fill. The use of bioactive gla ss resulted in 61.8% bone fill and 73.33% defect resolution. DFDBA-gra fted defects showed similar results, with 62.5% bone fill and 80.87% d efect resolution. Both treatments provided soft and hard tissue improv ements when compared to baseline (P less than or equal to 0.0001). No statistical difference was found when comparing bioactive glass to DFD BA; however, studies with larger sample sizes may reveal true differen ces between the materials. This study suggests that bioactive glass is capable of producing results in the short term (6 months) similar to that of DFDBA when used in moderate to deep intrabony periodontal defe cts.